StockPhotoTalk | Special Interest Blog

QuickLinks For 2008-02-29

• This is just stupid, Major League Baseball imposes restrictions for online content:
  MLB has become the latest property to impose limits on news outlets posting online content developed at league facilities, following the NFL´s hotly debated 45-second rule.
  In a new credentialing terms-and-conditions sheet MLB is limiting news organizations from posting more than 120 seconds a day of audio or video from league facilities, with game highlights restricted only to rights holders that have a separate rights deal with MLB Advanced Media.

Shutterstock: raising fees effective March 10, 2008

Just in from Shutterstock, the new prices are up 25,16% - 28,14%:

And: "Our three Enhanced License products will also undergo a price increase on the same date, though these products are not eligible for Automatic Renew".

Related:

• Shutterstock testing new price scheme, contributors payment goes up
  (Feb. 25, 2008)

QuickLinks For 2008-02-28

• New 52Wk Low this week for A21 of $0.01 resp. $0.012 with a Market Cap of $1,32M:
  Down from $ 0.80 (May 15, 2006); $ 0.34 (Aug. 22, 2006); $0.30 (Nov. 21, 2006); $0.271 (April 03, 2007); $0.25 (May 15, 2007); $0.075 (Aug. 10, 2007) and $0.055 (Nov. 12, 2007).
  Related:
  
  • a21: "Strategic Alternatives" (Feb. 15, 2008)
  • a21 Organizes for Growth (Feb. 15, 2008)

• Estimates Put Internet Advertising at $21 Billion in U.S., $45 Billion Globally:
  The Interactive Advertising Bureau has a preliminary estimate of $21.1 billion for U.S. Internet ads in 2007, a 25 percent increase over 2006. (For the fourth quarter of 2007, it is estimating $5.7 billion for the size of the industry, up from $5.2 billion in the third quarter).
  Meanwhile, the Kelsey Group puts U.S. Internet advertising at $22.5 billion for 2007 (IDC, as previously reported, is at the high end with $25.5 billion).
  The Kelsey Group also provides a global estimate of $45 billion for Internet advertising, which is 7.4% of the total $600 billion global advertising market.
  Erick Schonfeld/TechCrunch.

New Getty Images SEC Filing

Full Overview of the awaited SEC filing and its parts and of the Agreement and Plan of Merger:

• Complete document here, short version here.
• "The Company" = Getty Images.
• "Parent": Abe Investment, L.P. (*)

Excerpt from Entry into a material definitive agreement:

The Merger Agreement contains restrictions on the Company´s ability to solicit third party proposals or provide information to, or participate in discussions or negotiations with, third parties regarding competing proposals.

These restrictions are not applicable until April 4, 2008, however, with respect to a certain party with whom the Company has previously engaged in discussions with respect to a proposal.

Deutsche Bank Equity Research on Getty Images

In a short research note published yesterday, Deutsche Bank Equity Research reports -- very likely for the last time like the analysts of Kaufmann Bros. and Robert W. Baird -- on Getty Images:

 

Getty Images {Closing Price: USD 31.67, Target Price: USD 34.00, Recommendation: HOLD}.

• 39% Premium For Getty Images Purchase: Despite industry articles suggesting lackluster interest for the auction of Getty Images above $1.6bn just two weeks ago, private equity firm Hellman & Friedman (also known for privatizing DoubleClick and subsequently selling to Google 2yrs later) agreed to acquire Getty for $2.4bn (+debt), or $34/share in cash.

The $34 share price represents a 39% premium to the Friday closing price, which was much higher than our expectation of a $25 price tag.

QuickLinks For 2008-02-26

• Jonathan Klein spent some time with me this morning:
  We do want to focus on more long-term growth and we want to put more into our consumer offering and we think that music or footage or multimedia can grow faster. But we will still have the priority of stabilizing that traditional creative stills business, which showed some improvement in the fourth quarter sequentially but remains subject to those broader issues. [...]
  It was a competitive deal, and the proxy document that will come out in the next several weeks will have a lot of detail on that.
  Seattle-Post Intelligencer/John Cook, Q&A with Getty Images´Jonathan Klein.

Reuters Interview with Getty Images´CEO Jonathan Klein: "Overall systemic issues"

Reuters finally interviewed Jonathan Klein:

But a shift of advertising to the Internet and the growth of text-only paid-search advertisements led to a decline in volume for Getty´s rights-managed still pictures.
"The overall systemic issues around less print advertising, more online communication, and significant amount of spend on text-based search, which we hate because it does not have pictures, is not going to change because our ownership changes," Jonathan Klein said in an interview.
"But in the private environment we may be able to focus a little more on longer term growth", he said. "We´ll be able to continue to do what we´re doing without having the public glare every three months."
Klein said the board had at least one other bid to consider, but picked Hellman & Friedman since the price carried a strong premium and the deal did not hinge on financing conditions. He would not identify other bidders.

Reuters in "Private equity to buy Getty Images for $2.1 bln" (two pages).

Shutterstock testing new price scheme, contributors payment goes up

"We wanted to let you know":

We´ve been working hard on the details of your 2008 commission increase. The final stage of this process is to test new price points for Shutterstock products, which we will do over the next two months. We will then evaluate the results of these price increases and finalize your raise. We expect to be able to announce the raise to you during the first two weeks of May.

This year we will also be experimenting with some "starter" products that offer a less expensive entry point to account holders that have never purchased from us before. These new products will offer a brief trial of our user-friendly subscription model, so the account holder can experience first hand all of the benefits of being a paid Shutterstock customer.

QuickLinks For 2008-02-25

• Good bye all you conference calls and analyst questions:
  Troy Mastin, an analyst at William Blair & Co., said Getty´s core business of selling more-expensive photographs to newspapers and magazines had declined as those media struggled with the rise of Internet content. Sales to direct mail and brochure customers also cooled.
  At the same time, though, Getty´s newer businesses grew faster [iStock]. Mastin said customers who once bought the low end of Getty´s core stock photos moved over to buy the even cheaper royalty-free photos. And Getty´s editorial offerings - news, sports and celebrity photos for the media - grew, as did its video footage business.
  While Getty didn´t give a specific reason for its January decision to seek a buyer, Mastin said it was likely because Getty felt Wall Street was paying more attention to the stagnating core business than to its emerging segments. "Public markets didn´t seem willing to consider (Getty´s businesses) separately", Mastin said.
  Seattle Post-Intelligencer/Jessica Mintz in "Getty Images agrees to be bought".

Getty Images to be sold to private equity firm Hellman & Friedman for about $2.4 billion

Full text of Getty Images´ press release here in the press release section.

The opinion of the NYSE over the course of this day (enjoy it, as long as Getty Images is a public company).

 

iStockphoto Spring Up Sale

A few quick responses to this topic and thread: 1, 2 and 3.

         

QuickLinks For 2008-02-23

• What do you think Alamy will be like in five years time?:
  Personally I don´t think stock photography or the profession of Photographer in general has any kind of longevity.
  A thread with very discussible opinions ("Sir Bruce Livingstone, CEO of the newly relaunched MicroAlamy") on the Alamy Forum: Alamy in 2013.

Stockxpert Royalty Free Stock Footage to launch

The third microstock agency to follow iStockvideo and Shutterstock Footage, stockxpert is "excited to announce that stockxpert RF footage is finally here at SXP":

We are working through some last minute tweaks but will be releasing more information in the next week. We pay out 40% after each download.

To minimize the cost of money transfer you can request payment only after your earnings have reached $50 in case of Paypal or Moneybookers or $100 in case of checks.

More infos here and here.

Related:

• Shutterstock Lowers Prices For Shutterstock Footage (Jan. 24, 2008)
• Focus on Footage: Prices Lowered at Shutterstock Footage™ (Jan. 24, 2008)
• A Short Conversation With Shutterstock´s Jon Oringer (Dec. 30, 2007):
  "2007 has also been the year we really got serious about footage -- the footage site is gaining real momentum ... stay tuned... ."
• iStockphoto adjusts Credit Pricing and Extended License (Dec. 08, 2007)

QuickLinks For 2008-02-22

• Magazines Up for Sale, Including Variety:
  Variety, Publishers Weekly and dozens of other trade publications are going up for sale as the publishing company Reed Elsevier looks to get out of the uncertain advertising market.
  The company announced Thursday that it intended to sell one unit, Reed Business Information, and acquire ChoicePoint, a provider of consumer information, for $4.1 billion.
  Last year, the unit had revenue of $1.76 billion with an adjusted operating profit of $233 million. Most of the revenue came from advertising, and in a statement, Reed said it was seeking to reduce its exposure "to advertising markets and cyclicality".
  Analysts estimated that Reed Business Information would fetch at least $2 billion.
  The division´s primary rival, Nielsen Business Media [PDN and PhotoPlus Expo], has also been the subject of sale speculation, although the company denied rumors.
  NYT (abbreviated).
  Related:
  
  • "No talks are yet under way with potential buyers, and no timetable has been laid out for the disposal" (Variety in "Reed Elsevier to sell RBI").

Masterfile: Lay-offs at the stock photo agency, considers to add a microstock component

Like so many other photo agencies these days:

Stock image agency Masterfile laid-off 30 employees earlier this month due to "corporate restructuring", says Masterfile president Steve Pigeon. Twenty people were let go from its Toronto head office and ten from Europe. The company´s headcount now sits at 130 employees globally (100 in Toronto and 30 in Europe).

Although there is no direct evidence that discount microstock sites are cutting into his agency´s profits, Pigeon says it is not unrealistic to assume they are affecting Masterfile´s bottom line.

QuickLinks For 2008-02-21

• A first and quick reaction from a photo buyer on moodboard unlimited:
  I just [bought] a good image from mo[o]dboard for .76 cents that fits perfectly for a design I was making.  76 cents!  Wow!  How do they make money?  I have no clue, because [the] .75 cents [even] covered the credit card charges.
  Before anyone complains: abbreviated quoted above is only one photo buyer and his experience may not be representative.

Mike Watson is a Genius, and so is moodboard unlimited

More details for the moment here and here.

       

Related:

• moodboard+
  (Oct. 02, 2007)
• moodboard Website Goes Live: Quality Microstock and Premium RF
  (July 05, 2007)
• Mike Watson Images rebrands as moodboard, adapts to changes ahead
  (June 12, 2007)

QuickLinks For 2008-02-20

• DeviantArt, the YouTube for artists trying to show their own work:
  DeviantArt gets 1.5 billion page views a month, making it one of the most popular Web sites that many people have never even heard of, boasting millions of user-uploaded works of art, from photography to 3D digital conceptual art to old-fashioned canvas-and-paint portraits. Pieces can be viewed, commented on, even added to a user´s own gallery of favorites. 
  Last week, the 8-year-old site announced that it had received its 50 millionth artist-generated submission. In January, the site had 23 million unique visitors.
  DeviantArt is itself at a crossroads. Growing to millions of artists has meant that the company and its site has had to find ways to scale its community, a challenge to the way it has done business. The site doesn´t go in to details on its finances, but it is a for-profit entity that generates significant revenue - "Meeeeelllllliiiiooooonnnnnnnns!," according to co-founder and CEO Angelo Sotira, stating "We´ll be growing to 80" employees this year.
  Member and conceptual artist Daniel LuVisi said, "I just pray DeviantArt never turns into a popularity contest or the likes of MySpace or Facebook".
  Ina Fried/CNET (compiled/abbreviated).
  Related:
  
  • Gallery: A deviant art collection (CNET)

QuickLinks For 2008-02-19

• Interview with Iain Scholnick, CEO of ImageSpan:
  ImageSpan is the company behind LicenseStream, CurbStream, OneStream and a partner of the Picture Licensing Universal System (PLUS) Coalition.
  ImageSpan just received angel funding and given these news Beet-TV´s Andy Plesser runs today an interview with CEO Iain Scholding which he conducted last month (higher resolution here on blip.tv).
  Andy Plesser interviewed also Pixsy´s Chase Norlin and Mochila´s Keith McAllister.
      Related:
  
  • Reuters´ Mitch Koppelman About The New Reuters Video Service
    (Jan. 29, 2008)

QuickLinks For 2008-02-18

• Jupiterimages launches in India, excerpts from a discussion with Alan Meckler:
  "We will be announcing the launch of our image sales operations in India in a few weeks time. We have just hired a top Getty Images sales person, who is due to join in March. We intend to start small, and grow the business, and we believe we have the right assets for this market."
  Jupiterimages has roped in Ramji Ravindran as Sales Director, South Asia and Dubai. He moves from Visage Media, which represents Getty Images in South Asia, where he was National Sales Head, South Asia.
  Jupiterimages will also launch an Indian website with more Indian images by the end of this summer. Also on the anvil is the plan to open another office of Jupiterimages in Singapore by July 2008 to cater to the SE Asian region.
  Compiled/Abbreviated from:
  
  • Jupiter Media To Launch Image Sales OPs in India (contentSutra, Feb. 17)
    (paidContent editor Nikhil Pahwa shows a real bad portrait photo)
  • Jupiterimages to launch in India (exchange4media, Feb. 18)

QuickLinks For 2008-02-16

• Briefing: A swarm of paparazzi:
  Why is the paparazzi corps growing? It´s a simple matter of supply and demand. Celebrity-oriented magazines such as People and Us Weekly are more popular than ever, while newer gossip Web sites such as TMZ.com are drawing millions of users.
  Ten years ago, there were a handful of celebrity photo agencies in L.A. and about 25 paparazzi trolling the streets. Today, there are about 200 paparazzi in L.A. and dozens more in New York.
  The Week Daily´s column on the current paparazzi culture.

a21: "Strategic Alternatives"

Over the past years we´ve seen a fixed chronology of releasing annually and quarterly financial results in the stock photo industry. Usually Getty Images is first off the mark, followed later by Jupitermedia and then A21.

A21, parent company of SuperStock, PurestockX, ArtSelect and MediaMagnet, released Q3/2007 results in mid-November 2007, followed by a SEC filing, and will probably publish Q4 and Full Year 2007 results in late March or early April (like last year).

QuickLinks For 2008-02-15

• Finally Google Tests Video Ads on Search Results Pages:
  Google has always had a love-hate relationship with advertising. Its power and wealth come from the $16 billion a year of advertising that it sells.
  On Thursday, Google started testing video ads on some pages of search results. For now, advertisers will not pay extra to put video in the ads. They enter a price they will pay for a click in Google´s regular text-ad auction.
  But in the video ads, the advertiser pays when users click to see the video, even if they never click through to the advertiser´s site. This allows Google to expand what it can offer advertisers that are focused on promoting their brands, rather than driving traffic to a Web site.
  Marissa Mayer, Google´s VP of search products and user experience, said that the company would explore adding small thumbnail photos to the video ads as well and is considering testing other formats that may include ads with images.
  The test is scheduled to begin today in a small fraction of Google searches. Google would not provide an image of what they look like.
  Bits Technology/NYT blog (compiled/abbreviated).

QuickLinks For 2008-02-14

• GumGum Launches New Image Licensing Platform:
  GumGum co-founder Ari Mir introduces his new company and submitted a GumGum fact sheet (download), but Michael Arrington had been way faster (link above) to write a story around it:
  
  Images today are generally licensed for a flat fee, exclusively or non-exclusively. GumGum founders Ophir Tanz and Ari Mir think a better way is to charge for impressions, or on an advertising-supported basis.
  GumGum allows any publisher to search for images (there are thousands available now via a number of photography agencies) - here´s an example search for "Britney" [these images are from the X17 photo agency]. Images can be licensed on a CPM basis (generally $0.20 or so, but determined by content owner), or for free with an advertisement.

QuickLinks For 2008-02-13

• An update on Digital Railroad in Charles Mauzy´s "Company Update":
  We´re also a very different company than we were just two months ago, and I’d like to update you on the journey. In 2008 we will significantly increase our focus on serving the needs of our buyers through aggressive development around Marketplace, Research Network™, and new buyer services. This is a planned transition and doesn´t mean that we´ll stop investing in the sell side. It does mean that the balance will now shift measurably to the buy side.
  This doesn´t mean that we are "running out of cash" as some have feared. Quite the opposite -- in addition to our ongoing month-over-month revenue growth, we´ve recently closed a financing round supported by our principle investors.
  What you´ve seen is a shift in how we resource our growth to meet our strategic and business objectives. We´ll be increasing staff in Marketplace and sales-related activities, as well as our finance and accounting teams.
  Digital Railroad blog (abbreviated).
  Related:
  
  • CEO Charles Mauzy About Digital Railroad (Jan. 10, 2008)